Don’t get me wrong. That Batman outside Tokyo is great. But Batman is an American comic book character. There’s something special about suddenly seeing a Japanese superhero out and about and doing good on the home turf.

Kamen Rider Gaim, the latest entry in the long-running Kamen Rider series, is quite interesting. It's samurai-themed, but uses fruit motifs throughout the show. That no longer raises eyebrows among viewers. A recent map that appeared on the show, however, does.

Usually when an anime hits its halfway point, I like to give a point-by-point review of its first half. However, in the case of Samurai Flamenco, this has proven impossible for me. Because depending on how the series so far is interpreted, it's either brilliant or terrible—and I can't seem to decide which.

Things weren't exactly easy. In fact, many stores in Japan didn't even want to carry the product. Sweets that you drink out of a plastic toilet? Eh... But now, Moko Moko Mokoletto is flushed with success.

In years past, you'd always see them outside convenience stores and in parking lots, coping a squat next to their Subarus and Hondas, smoking cigarettes. They were tough looking. They were thugs. And they'd sit like they're squeezing out turds.

Across Japan, it's harvest time. In September, the rice turns a golden hue. The color—my favorite—is koganeiro (黄金色). Scarecrows stand watch over the rice fields. Most scarecrows in Japan are rather pedestrian—what you'd think a scarecrow would and should look like.